By Andrew Warshaw
September 22 – For years, football’s European stakeholders – leagues, clubs and especially fans – have complained about meaningless friendlies and pushed for an alternative that makes games more competitive.
September 22- Real Madrid have renewed their shirt sponsorship deal with Dubai airline Emirates in a record value deal taking them through to the end of the 2020/21 season.
September 22 – Mexican football is on a hold as domestic clubs have rallied to offer aid relief after a magnitude 7.1 earthquake killed more than 200 people and inflicted mass devastation in Mexico.
September 22 – Premier League Southampton have announced Brickhill Capital as the club’s official Asian Trading Partner in a two-year deal.
September 22 – Just days after announcing she will stand for re-election, Sierra Leone’s embattled FA president Isha Johansen has been charged with abuse of office and misuse of public funds by the country’s Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).
By Andrew Warshaw
September 21 – UEFA could announce by the end of this season what sanctions, if any, it will impose on Paris St Germain as a result of its probe into the club for potential breaches of financial fair play.
By Paul Nicholson
September 21 – FIFA sponsor Coca-Cola has teamed up with FIFA 18 video gamemaker EA Sports to sign Alex Hunter as a brand ambassador in advance of the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Don’t bother trying to work out who Hunter plays for, he only exists as a virtual athlete in the FIFA 18 game.
By Andrew Warshaw
September 21 – Belgium’s football leaders have been given an end-of-November deadline to convince UEFA they can deliver a stadium to host part of Euro 2020.
September 21 – Cameroon’s most revered player, former skipper Samuel Eto’o has made a last-ditch attempt to convince the leaders of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) that his country is capable of organising the 2019 African Nations Cup.
September 21 – Atletico Madrid’s brand new stadium has beaten off competition from Baku to win the right to stage the 2019 Champions League final.
By Andrew Warshaw in Geneva
September 20 – Four months after the embarrassment of its most powerful sports supremo being blocked from keeping his place at FIFA’s top table, Russia regained its influence in world football politics today when Alexei Sorokin was elected to FIFA’s ruling Council until 2021.
By Mark Baber
September 20 – FIFA have confirmed they are investigating Chelsea for third time in eight years over possible breaches of regulations around signing youth players. Chelsea deny any wrongdoing.
By Andrew Warshaw in Geneva
September 20 – UEFA President Aleksander Ceferin has challenged European governments to help bring about greater competitive balance within the game, not least allowing salary caps which has long been close to the Slovenian’s heart.
By Paul Nicholson
September 20 – Champagne corks will be popping in Miami, New York, and Zurich following the decision by the FIFA Ethics adjudicatory chamber to ban Gordon Derrick, the president of the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) and general secretary of the Antigua and Barbuda Football Association (ABFA), for six years.
September 20 – Kenya looks likely to be stripped of its hosting rights to CHAN 2018 at an African Football Confederation (CAF) executive meeting on Saturday following a final inspection of the proposed venues last weekend.